Big data analytics specialist Fusionex International took a beating this week after it announced plans for a swift de-listing from London’s junior market.

The company – which allows customers such as Ford and Aviva to process huge amounts of data – delivered the news last Friday, after the markets had shut down for the long weekend.

The official line from Fusionex is that it feels undervalued by the market and that the costs of listing on AIM could be ‘better spent within the business’, although the true reasoning behind the proposed cancellation may not be so clear cut, according to some reports.

Fusionex allows customers such as Ford and Aviva to process huge amounts of data

The group’s broker, Peel Hunt, and PR adviser, Buchanan, have both quit recently. An article in The Times said this was in protest at what has been described as a ‘backdoor attempt by [Fusionex’s] founder to seize control’.

A vote is being held in Malaysia on 15 June, making it difficult for disgruntled investors here in the UK to block the move by Ivan Teh.

The Malaysian tycoon – who is also the firm’s chief executive – already has a 41 per cent stake in Fusionex and needs 75 per cent approval at the meeting, which he is likely to get from senior colleagues.

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The probable low turnout will also help Teh to push the proposal over the line. If he is successful, Fusionex shares could stop trading on AIM before the month is out.

Investors have been rushing to get rid of their shares while they still can do so relatively easily, which has sent the share price plunging by 70 per cent this week to 40.1p.

Elsewhere, the looming threat of a share suspension weighed heavily on Sovereign Mines of Africa which saw the value of its shares slashed by more than a third to 0.235p.

The former gold explorer farmed out its remaining assets earlier this year, meaning it is an AIM Rule 15 cash shell and must complete a reverse takeover by 21 July otherwise its shares will be suspended.

If that suspension isn’t lifted within the following six months, then its shares will be cancelled from trading altogether.

Sovereign told investors on Thursday that it was looking at making an acquisition in the ‘Indian consumer goods sector’ but said there was no guarantee that a deal will complete.

To make things even more difficult, chief executive Rupert Street has stepped down from his position, with the company now looking for a new boss based in India to guide it down its new path.

There were companies which enjoyed happier times during this shortened week, though. HaiKe Chemical was top of that list after its share went radioactive (in a good way) on Thursday.

The China-based chemicals firm put a solid shift in 2016, with profits soaring to £1.9million on increased revenues of £81million. That compares with a profit of just £0.4million and revenues of £76.3million in the prior year.

HaiKe said cost controls and a shift in focus towards higher margin specialty chemical products were behind the improved performance.

Perhaps what really got investors excited was the news that the positive momentum has continued into 2017, with revenues and net profits both currently ahead of last year. Shares leapt 38 per cent higher to 33.9p.

Staying in East Asia, China New Energy also powered higher this week after the engineering and technology solutions provider revealed it had secured seven new contracts so far in 2017.

The contracts – which will all be underway by the end of the month and commissioned in 2018 – are worth around £12.8million; a sizeable amount given that CNE’s market cap is still less than half that.

The company added that most of those earnings will be booked during this current year as well. Shares jumped 17 per cent over the four days to 1.3p.

Chemicals: China-based HaiKe Chemical put a solid shift in 2016

HaiKe and CNE are more reflective of how the junior market, and the London markets in general, fared this week.

The AIM All Share was up 3.1 points, or 0.3 per cent, to 992 over the past four trading days, although that wasn’t enough to keep up with the FTSE 100 which hit several new highs.

The blue chip index gained 45 points, or 0.6 per cent, to finish the week at 7,560.

Over in Russia, Eurasia Mining received a boost after the firm had the reserves report and feasibility study for its Monchetundra palladium and platinum project approved by the Russian State Agency for Subsoil Use (Rosnedra).

The reserves amount to 55.9 tonnes (1.9million ounces) palladium equivalent (palladium and platinum) with major additional gold and base metal credits, at two open pits.

Managing director Christian Schaffalitzky said the approval was ‘an incredibly important development’ and had come through much quicker than we had anticipated.

Even with a slight fall on Friday, Eurasia shares were still changing hands for 0.53p – a gain of 27 per cent for the week.

Motif Bio was neither a massive riser nor faller this week – up around 4 per cent at 33p – but it is a good example of the bullish market sentiment towards micro-caps at the moment.

On Friday, the drug developer unveiled plans to raise $25million (£19.4million) through a share placing which will fund to completion the second of two phase-III studies on its antibiotic, iclaprim.

That’s Motif’s second $25million placing in the past six months or so and shows investors are still willing to dig deep for AIM-quoted companies.

Chief executive Graham Lumsden and his team are unsurprisingly confident about the data the upcoming trials will yield, as seemingly is cornerstone investor Invesco Asset Management, which is expected to part with some of its cash once again in the latest funding round.